82 



THE NATURE BOOK 



FEMALE BLACKCAP SITTING ON NEST FULL OF YOUNG 



which a Nightingale might be mistaken 

 is a somewhat large Robin without a 

 red breast and with a slightly elongated 

 and ruddier tail than usual — the make 

 and shape of the champion songsters of 

 winter and summer being similar. 



The Blackcap is inferior in song only 

 to the Nightingale. Leave out 

 the distinct and piteous wail- 

 ings of the latter, and remem- 

 ber that they are chiefly heard 

 during the time when all other 

 birds are silent, whilst the 

 Blackcap competes with the 

 whole chorus of the grove, and 

 we must confess that the Night- 

 ingale owes much to the be- 

 witching solitude and twilight 

 for exceeding popularity over 

 the less melancholy voiced 

 Blackcap. 



The Garden Warbler, a speci- 

 ally good performer of the 

 species, runs the Blackcap very 

 close in point of melody, so 

 that voice alone is no safe guide 

 to identity. When once the 

 respective songsters can be seen, 

 however — and neither is so re- 

 tiring as the Nightingale — the 

 black hood of the male of the 

 latter species, and the brown 

 cap of the female, at once iden- 

 tifies them from the more 

 sombre whole-coloured Garden 

 Warbler. 



There are yet two other small 



birds, somewhat similar to 

 the last named, which also 

 might be mistaken for one 

 another, namely the Com- 

 mon and the Lesser White- 

 throats. All these Warblers 

 are between five and six 

 inches in length, and the 

 so-called Whitethroats are 

 by no means conspicuous 

 for the whiteness of their 

 bibs, although sufiftciently so 

 to distinguish them from 

 the Garden Warbler. The 

 commoner bird of the two 

 Whitethroats is reallj' com- 

 mon everywhere, and in 

 consequence rejoices in 

 several local names ; " Hay- 

 jack," from its frail dead-grass cradle, 

 being the most frequent, while " Nettle- 

 creeper" declares its partiality for situa- 

 tions where such weeds luxuriate. It is 

 a merry, cheerful bird, not much of a 

 songster, but frequently uttering its ex- 

 cited and erratic warble as it mounts 



WHITETHKOAT ON NEST. 



